Gold recovers some lost ground amid slowdown fears

Gold rose on Friday, having declined over 1% in the previous session, as persistent concerns over the pandemic-led economic slump boosted the metal's appeal, although gains were restricted by a jump in US.

Treasury yields. Spot gold was up 0.4% at $1,936.64 per ounce by 0316 GMT. US gold futures rose 0.6% to $1,943.20. "Realistically, we are probably a year or two away from the economy really recovering again," said Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at financial services firm AxiCorp.

"We are going to have lower interest rates for a lot longer and the changes with the amount of stimulus we are getting behind the economy right now inflation could start to pick-up, which should help gold." Rising coronavirus cases has cast a shadow on hopes of quick economic recovery and has prompted central banks to reduce interest rates and loosen their monetary stance, helping gold prices climb 28% so far this year.

Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion, which is also seen as a hedge against inflation and the fear of currency debasement. Data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits hovered around 1 million last week, suggesting the labour market recovery was stalling as the pandemic drags on. "We believe gold prices remain positioned to the upside, respecting the underlying long-term uptrend as concerns over the global economy remain over the coming months, supporting safe haven assets including gold," Fitch Solutions said in a note.

Meanwhile, US Federal Reserve's aggressive new strategy to lift employment and increased tolerance for higher inflation pushed US bond yields higher, limiting gold's advance. Elsewhere, silver gained 0.5% to $27.21 per ounce and was on track for a second consecutive weekly rise, up 1.9%. Platinum rose 0.3% to $931.03, while palladium climbed 0.6% to $2,174.63